The present invention relates to lighted or illuminated signage. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and system used in lighting or illuminating signs, logos or channel letters using fluorescent lights or lamps, alone or in combination with reflective coating which can be applied to the sign interior, and reflective surfaces added in the sign interior, to deflect, disperse, reflect and direct the light emitted from the fluorescent lamps to a sign front.
To increase visibility and for enhanced marketing, it is generally desirable to illuminate commercial and other signage. Illumination from within the sign itself has traditionally been accomplished with neon, argon, or other gaseous tube lamps. Gaseous tube lamps are often preferred because they can be shaped or conformed to the design of the sign, letter or display to provide a consistent and generally uniform illumination of the sign. Using gaseous tube lamps does, however, have certain drawbacks. In particular, they require custom shaping of the tubes by a glass craftsman to conform to the shape of the sign. They typically operate at a higher voltage causing increased operating costs and increasing the danger associated with repairs. The gaseous tube lamps are fragile and many times break in transit, during installation and use, thus requiring frequent replacement. Additionally, any required repairs are generally difficult, time consuming and costly, often requiring two trips by a repair service: one trip to remove the defunct lamp and a second trip to install a new lamp which has been custom shaped using the old lamp or measurements from the sign. Further, gaseous tube lamps fail over the entire length of the tube, thus often rendering all or a large part of the sign unlighted until the defunct tube can be replaced. Thus, neon, argon or other gaseous tube lamps are relatively expensive in terms of purchase costs, operating costs and maintenance/repair costs.
Many of the difficulties associated with gaseous tube lamps could be avoided by using fluorescent lamps to illuminate signs. Fluorescent lamps are brighter than neon, relatively maintenance free and more cost effective to maintain. When a fluorescent lamp or ballast fail, only that portion of the sign is affected. Repair is relatively simple by changing the defunct failed lamp or ballast. Further, fluorescent lamps rarely break in transit and if broken, can easily be replaced with off the shelf components.
The difficulty in using fluorescent lamps, however, is that they provide a point source of light. As a result, fluorescent lamps have a tendency to create hot spots where the lighting appears brighter near the fluorescent lamp and darker further from the fluorescent lamp. Generally, these hot spots are undesirable because the sign is not illuminated uniformly and appears patchy or blotchy. Although use of fluorescent lighting in signage has been attempted, an effective solution has not been developed which provides comparable uniformity to signs illuminated with gaseous tube lamps.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,576 to Daniels, a fluorescent light unit is provided for a sign interior. The unit includes a socket and a corresponding ballast which are mounted to a backplate in a top to bottom relationship such that a fluorescent tube extends perpendicularly away from the backplate. The unit is positioned on a back of a sign interior with the ballast underneath the socket and the fluorescent lamp extending parallel to the back sign interior. In this configuration, the ballast underneath the socket positions the fluorescent lamp closer to the sign front and further from the back of the sign interior.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,525 to Paglieri et al., a flexible sign facing with spaced point sources of illumination is described. A reflector is provided between each pair of adjacent point sources. Each reflector is shaped to reflect the light from the adjacent light source toward the front of the sign, thereby illuminating the areas of the sign facing farthest from the light sources.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,086 to Tickner discloses a lighting unit using multiple compact fluorescent bulbs positioned to follow the outwardly-flared inside surface of a reflector. The reflector allows the light from the compact fluorescent bulbs to be focused in the desired direction. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,814 to Sanai discloses a planar luminescent device which incorporates light sources within reflective frames. The reflective frames include a raised portion between light sources to direct the light emitted from the light sources.
None of these references, however, have effectively resolved the problems with using fluorescent illumination in signage. This failure is evidenced by the continuing prevalence of gaseous tube lamps in the marketplace of illuminated signage as compared to the relatively paltry use of fluorescent lamps.
Through significant time and effort, it has been found that the deficiencies of fluorescent lighting can be overcome by careful positioning of the fluorescent lamps within the signage and the addition of particular surfaces and structure to the interior of the sign to enhance reflectivity. In particular, it has been learned that positioning the lamps further from the front of the sign helps to reduce the hot spots, thus providing a more even and consistent illumination throughout the sign. Additionally, minimizing the distance between the back of the sign and the fluorescent lamps allows more light to be reflected from the back of the sign, further reducing hot spots. And finally, providing additional surfaces and structures within the sign for reflecting the light emitted from the lamps creates tremendous advantages.
These findings have allowed use of fluorescent lighting in signage to provide the quality of illumination equivalent to, if not superior to, gaseous tube lamps. In addition, the apparatus and systems described herein have also allowed for a fewer number of fluorescent lamps to be used per sign, which obviously lowers the initial cost, the energy requirements and hence operating costs, and the repair costs associated with the illuminated sign.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a novel apparatus and system for efficiently and effectively lighting or illuminating signs, channel letters and displays using compact fluorescent lamps. The novel apparatus and system of the present invention provide a more intense and uniform illumination by increasing the distance between the fluorescent light and the front of signage. In addition, reflective material is applied to the interior of the sign to further enhance the illumination from the fluorescent lamps. Further, additional surfaces can be added to the light interior to deflect, disperse, reflect and direct the light emitted from the fluorescent lamps to the sign front. These surfaces can also be coated with a reflective material to increase the effectiveness of the fluorescent lamps in illuminating the signage.
The apparatus and system used in the present invention comprise a back panel and sidewalls proximate the perimeter of, and extending upwardly from, the back panel. The back panel and sidewalls form a light channel for a sign, letter, display or other signage to be illuminated. A plurality of ballasts connectable to an electrical power source and corresponding sockets for receiving fluorescent lamps are separately coupled to the back surface proximate the light channel. This configuration maximizes the distance between the fluorescent lamps and the top of the light channel to provide more area for the light to be deflected, disperse, reflected and directed to a sign front. In addition, the distance between the fluorescent lamps and the back panel is minimized so that the area of the back panel proximate the fluorescent lamp can effectively reflect more light for dispersing, reflecting and directing to the sign front.
The relative position of the socket and corresponding ballast can be adjusted as desired to provide a more consistent and even illumination of a sign. The ballast can be mounted on the back panel behind the portion of the fluorescent lamp which is received into the socket to minimize the shadow caused by the ballast. In addition, the number and distribution of ballasts and corresponding sockets in the light channel can be adjusted to provide the desired amount and intensity of light for the signage.
Light reflective material can be used to coat the back panel and sidewalls proximate the light channel. The reflective material helps to disperse and scatter the light emitted from the fluorescent lamps to reduce hot spots thereby providing for more consistent illumination. In addition, the reflective material helps to reflect and direct a significant amount of the light emitted from the fluorescent lamps to the sign front to illuminate the signage with maximum intensity, thereby reducing the number of fluorescent lights required to provide effective illumination of the signage.
Additional surfaces or baffles can be mounted to the back panel among and between the fluorescent lamps to provide additional surfaces for deflecting, dispersing, reflecting and directing the light emitted from the lamps. While the baffles can be of varying shapes, in one embodiment, a corresponding pair of baffles are angled by affixing their opposite ends to the sidewalls thereby narrowing the light channel proximate the back panel. In an alternative embodiment, an intermediate baffle can be coupled to the back panel between the corresponding pair of baffles to form two light channels with the pair of baffles. The intermediate baffle can be a pyramid or spherical shape, forming various angles with the back panel to which is it mounted. To improve performance, the baffles can also be coated with a reflective material. The ballasts can be mounted to the back panel proximate the sidewalls and outside the light channel formed by the angled baffles, or to the portion of the back panel under the intermediate baffle, to eliminate the shadow caused by the ballasts.
The invention is more particularly shown and described in the accompanying drawings and materials included herein.